Love is a Battlefield
by Sir Alwick
Summary: What really goes on in Raven's head during those small but crucial moments of indecision. A physical representation of the inner battle between heart and mind.


She wore a cloak of deep violet. Her thoughts were filled with flowers and heart shaped boxes; with long nights and quiet evenings; with tender embraces and gentle whispers; with only the feelings of deepest contentment. She was all these things in their purest form. She did not exist as most did in the physical world, but she existed all the same in the heart of her master, and indeed in the hearts of all sentient beings.

She was love.

For years she had been small and weak; she had known only constraint. In recent memory, however, she had found herself growing stronger. Her once tiny home had grown with her and become an ever-expanding utopia. What was once only a simple patch of well kept sod had become a breathtaking landscape of lush green fields resting beneath a sky filled with thousands upon thousands of shimmering stars. The air was warm and comforting and the delicate flowers that grew there were more beautiful than anything anyone could have ever imagined.

It was here, in this world, she found herself, legs crossed, hovering above her favorite patch of green grass. The gentle warmth of her world enveloped her. Her thoughts roamed free and in a sudden snap of inspiration the land beneath her silently doubled in size. A soft smile spread across her lips and she knew she was in the midst of something special, something that would change things for her forever.

And then it came, a cold and sobering breeze suddenly made its way through her world, rustling the flowers and bringing an unwanted chill to her form. Her serenity faltered and she realized her world had realigned. The land she had gained was gone and in its place stood the one who had taken it.

The other wore a yellow cloak as well as an elegant pair of spectacles. She was one of the more powerful beings that existed in that universe. She was the manifestation of accumulated knowledge and substance, a being of pure logic, always thinking, always consciously aware of her surroundings.

She was Reason, and per usual, she was the first to speak.

"We're afraid we're going to have to ask you to stop," she said, her cloak drawn over her shoulders as she made her way up to where Love still sat, hovering in the air. She spoke like no other emotion. Her demeanor was calm and calculating, and her enunciation was impeccable. Every word was just as important as the one that came before it and was treated accordingly.

Love did not immediately respond. Her thoughts were still wandering. She breathed deep and sighed, "Have you ever heard such words spoken more beautifully? Isn't it wonderful?"

"It's dangerous is what it is," replied Reason bluntly.

"Dangerous? How can it be dangerous? We've been waiting so long for this moment...and now..."

"The situation has become critical, and we're here to put an end to it before it's too late."

Another cold breeze blew across the fields, finally wresting Love from her thoughts. She grabbed her arms for warmth.

"No, stop!" she shouted. "Stop it. You're going to ruin it."

Several times before Love had faced this exact scenario, and several times before she had succumbed to the cold. But not this time. Something in her refused to back down, and Reason was shocked to suddenly find the little emotion fighting back. A wind, stronger than anything Reason had ever felt before from Love, came roaring back at her. The heat of it swept across her body, stunning her, breaking her concentration.

"You can't stop us this time," declared Love confidently. "We won't let you. We're stronger now, stronger than we've ever been."

"A surprising development, but nothing we haven't prepared for," replied Reason plainly. "You'll see. You're strength is minimal at best. Ours is unquestionably greater."

As the two winds continued to blow, dark clouds were beginning to take shape and somewhere in the distance thunder crashed. A storm long in the making was on the horizon. Both emotions knew it. There was no escaping this. Whoever won would decide the master's fate.

"Please," begged Love. "Just let us have this. We need it."

"You've said these things once before. And once before we stepped down and allowed you to take control. Tell me. What happened?"

"This is different. _He's_ different. You can't expect us to hold onto one bad experience for the rest of our life."

"We do apologize, but we laid down for you once already. Not again."

Lightening struck and thunder boomed as Reason thrust her hands outward and yellow tinted energy rushed forth from her palms. The beam cut across the field and Love cried out as it connected violently with her chest. There was a flash of bright light and when it cleared the little emotion was gone, sent scattering across the void.

"Foolish girl," muttered Reason, unimpressed with the swiftness of her opponent's defeat. Raising her arms she took to the task of restructuring Love's dominion. She brought forth her sobering winds and all at once the world began to shrink. She would put it back to its proper size and that would be the end of-

Suddenly a rush of warmth kissed Reason's cheeks and before she could properly react a blast of violet energy sent her staggering. She gathered her faculties quickly. She looked to the skies and found Love hovering several yards above her.

"We won't let you take this from us," shouted the violet clad emotion.

Another blast of energy shot forth from Love's palms, but this time Reason was able to avoid it. She faded into the ground just in time to avoid the blast and reappeared up in the sky to Love's back. She attempted a blast of her own and at such a close range it would have undoubtedly been the end, but Love was crafty and, sensing the imminent attack, turned just in time to grab Reason's wrist and throw off her aim. The beam fired harmlessly up into the sky and Love countered the attack with a swift thrust kick to the chest that sent Reason hurdling backward. Love thrust out her hand and fired, attempting a follow up attack. Reason recovered quickly, however, and Love's oncoming beam crashed against Reason's shield.

There was a brilliant flash as the two energies collided and when it cleared Love was dumbfounded to find Reason gone once again. Her mind reeled. Seconds passed and suddenly Love sensed movement above her. She came within inches of being too late but somehow she was able to throw up her own shield before Reason's energized fist could find her.

Energy snapped and popped as the storm around the two continued to grow in intensity. High winds and massive lightning bolts ravaged the once peaceful landscape, and the tremendous thunder had become nearly deafening. Still even as the storm raged around them, neither emotion refused to back down. Reason drove her fist downward, fighting hard against Love's shield. Love would have none of it. Gritting her teeth, focusing her strength, the little emotion willed her violet hued shield to expand outward, knocking Reason backward, sending her tumbling through the air. Reason righted herself and fired an energy beam. Love responded in kind. The two energies collided, forming a giant ball in the middle, resulting in a massive explosion that knocked both emotions back and brought them to a standstill.

It was then that the storm seemed to die down. The lightning and thunder ceased and the winds slowed, however; dark clouds still filled the sky. The two emotions said nothing at first, only stared hard at one another.

"You _have_ gotten stronger," said Reason finally, as if confirming Love's earlier declaration. "We apologize for not taking you more seriously."

"It's because of our friends," declared Love. "They make us strong."

"Perhaps, but it does not change anything. The situation is dangerous and must be defused."

"We won't let you stand in our-"

From below it came. Distracted by Reason's words, Love did not see the massive swell of energy come up underneath her. It came in the form of what appeared to be a giant book. Thick like a dictionary, its cover snapped shut around her, trapping her like a fly within its pages.

Again Reason believed she had the battle won. That was before Love's righteous shout rang in her ears and all at once her violet energy tore through her prison walls, liberating her. The little emotion immediately retaliated. Throwing her hands up in the air, out of nothing materialized a massive heart-shaped energy volley. It's size dwarfed anything that had come before it, and Reason could hardly believe her eyes. Thrusting her arms downward, Love sent the projectile sailing in Reason's direction where it collided with her, resulting in another brilliant flash of light.

For a few precious moments the battlefield was silent. Then from out of the void Reason came soaring back. Her body was awash with yellow energy, covering her from head to toe, and she lunged at Love with reckless abandon. Love threw up her shield but this time Reason penetrated it without effort. Reason collided with love in a mighty shoulder tackle and both were sent smashing into the ground. Reason offered no respite. A blade like energy formation appeared in her hand and she thrust it at Love. Grabbing hold of Reason's wrist with both hands Love attempted to stave off the attack. Reason put all her weight into forcing the blade downward. Love's arms trembled. She was weakening. She couldn't hold on much longer.

It was then, in that moment of certain defeat, that her thoughts found her once more. Thoughts of her mother, of her friends, filled her psyche. She thought of him, of his beautiful smile and caring eyes, and suddenly the incredible warmth of her world returned. Swallowing the cold, the sensation spread over her entire body. She found her strength and suddenly her body was engulfed by the most brilliant violet energy.

With a mighty expulsion of energy, Love swiftly sent Reason sailing from her perch, back up into the air from whence she came. Love wasted no time; she went soaring after her and now the two glowing beings met in what was to be the final phase of their battle. Burning with energy, the two raced at one another. They collided again and again. Each meeting resulted in a soul shattering explosion. Yet, still, even as the fighting intensified they continued their running dialogue.

"Why are you doing this?" shouted Reason. "We're doing this for your own good. We're only trying to protect you."

"We don't need your protection. If it were up to you we'd be alone for all eternity."

"But we're not alone. We have friendship."

"Friendship isn't enough anymore. We want more than that."

"More could destroy us. It almost did before. Don't you remember?"

"Don't you? Ask yourself: Who was it that helped us last time? Who is it that has always been there for us when we needed him the most? Who was it that had the strength and compassion to show us that we weren't alone?"

"And what if something goes wrong? You are indeed stronger than you were before. Imagine that same strength turned back against you, imagine that same strength feeding Rage instead."

"That won't happen."

"What if it does?"

"We'll deal with it."

"It's too dangerous."

"We'll take the risk!"

The two collided once more. Their fingers entwined in the classic Greco-Roman-knuckle-lock as they pitted their remaining strength against one another. Their energies mixed and mingled, forming an uncontrollable torrent that went sailing up into the sky, casting the dark clouds asunder. Pillars of light shot forth from their eyes. Lightning flashed, striking the pair and with one final, fantastic display of prowess, a massive energy explosion ripped across the land.

For a brief moment everything seemed to vanish, but soon the light faded and senses returned. The clouds were gone now, and the stars with them. In their place now sat a glorious sunrise, frozen in the moment of maximum beauty.

With a gentle sigh, Love leaned back on her palms and smiled as the warm light kissed her face.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

...

"Huh?" asked Raven. Her wandering mind found reality once more as she cast a tentative gaze at the young man seated next to her.

"I said it's kinda pretty, isn't it?" repeated Beast Boy with a nervous smile. "The sunrise and all."

"Yes, I suppose it is," she answered, composing herself.

Once more, his hand reached for hers and this time she did not pull away, rather she accepted it into her own. As he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb a small smile found its way to her lips.

"You are too," said Beast Boy after a beat.

"I'm _kinda pretty_?" asked Raven, arching an eyebrow.

Realizing the inelegance of his words, the young man started to babble. "Yeah, well, I mean you're more than pretty. I mean you're really prettBeautiful! You're beautiful is what-that's what I meant to say. I...uh...ahem...I think you're beautiful."

Raven, still holding on to Beast Boy's hand, scooted her way across the ledge until her hips touched his. Raising his arm up over her head she lowered it onto her shoulder, placing herself in his embrace. She smiled and simply said, "Stop talking, Beast Boy."

And unlike the thousands of times before, this time he did, and for the next half hour, as the warmth of their bodies mingled, the two enjoyed the greatest silence either of them had ever known.

**End**

_A/N: Been a while since I did a BBXRAE. Hope you liked it. _


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